County Offices of Education support schools countywide with special education, business functions and many other services.

For the Santa Clara County office, charter schools tend to be the lightning rod: the board can grant charters and is the court of appeal when a local school district turns one down. But as a big-picture, consensus goal, preschool for all now is front and center — as it should be: Quality preschool is arguably the single greatest determinant of a student’s success in school and in life.

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In the twocontested seats this fall, incumbent Grace Mah and recent appointee Rosemary Kamei both have a passion for that goal and are hard workers. We recommend them — and hope the board will continue itsopenness to charters that can help kids who are failing at existing schools.

The hard choice here is in Trustee Area 3,which covers parts of San Jose and nearby cities, where Kamei is challenged by former San Jose Councilwoman Judy Chirco.

We recommended Chirco for the appointment Kamei received last year to a board vacancy. Had she gotten the nod, we’re confident she’d have shone. But Kamei now has a full grasp of the board’s responsibilities and is contributing energy, focus and an instinct for leadership. As head of an education nonprofit, she is in her element.

We still worry about Kamei’s independence, particularly in reviewing charter applications, since she has strong support from teachers unions. But she also has the endorsement of the California Charter Schools Association.

A litmus test is coming Wednesday, when former assistant district attorney Marc Buller’s Legacy Academy proposal comes back for a second try. Buller’s creative idea is a middle school for kids who are in foster care or on probation, often the most troubled youth. Buller’s first application was too vague, but we hope this time he can meet the board’s standards — and gets a fair hearing.

Mah has represented North County’s Area 1 for nine years with intelligence, even temper and hard work. She’s best known for establishing a Mandarin immersion school in Palo Alto, but her contributions are much broader, particularly working for early childhood education.

Her energetic opponent, Sheena Chin, says Mah does not communicate with constituents or other school boards, but that’s not what we hear. She has taken on preschool leadership not only in her area but alsocountywide, including lower-income areas. TheBoard of Education is never a high profile office, but Mah is doing good work.

Chin wants greater accountability for charter schools. She’s right that better oversight by this board and others is needed, including requiring more transparency. But Mah and Kamei echo the goal, and oversight is improving. The board has revoked three charters because of poor performance.

Once considered among the best in California, this county Office of Education is recovering from a long rough patch of scandals and failed leadership. It seems to have turned a corner under Superintendent Jon Gundry. We hope so. And we believe Mah and Kamei can keep the progress going.